Description

This area is located on the south flanks of the central Swiss Alps, in the northern-most reaches of the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino. The rock is raw alpine granite of good quality. A day out in this terrain, as with so many areas of Switzerland, tends to inspire grand visions of withdrawal from any and all occupations that entail fluorescent illumination, conditioned-air, and organization charts.

The climbing area is at around 2300 meters above sea level, and is south-facing.

There is a large itinerary of routes, of various length and difficulty.

Descent for all routes is by abseil.

Traffic here is, in general, moderate. On weekends during the main climbing season, the more popular routes can get fairly crowded.

Accommodation can be found at the nearby Piansecco hut, or (sparsely) in the Bedretto valley.

More information and topos can be found in the Schweiz plaisir-sud or the SAC Ticino guidebook.

The routes are generally well protected with bolts. A small assortment of gear to complement the fixed stuff may come in handy on some of the routes.

Getting There

At the south portal of the Gotthard tunnel, the Bedretto valley takes off towards the west. The Nufenen pass carries on as the valley closes out, providing a road connection to both Valais and central Switzerland.

The climbing area is accessed in one of two ways 1) from the floor of Bedretto valley, a trail takes off to the north, ascending to the SAC Piansecco hut and on to the climbing area. The approach in this fashion is a somewhat strenuous two hour hike. 2) From high up on the Nufenen pass road, at a near 180 degree curve in the road, a (marked) trail traverses to the east towards the climbing area and hut. The approach in this fashion is a mellow one hour walk.